Charles Barkley And Gayle King Done At CNN After All Time Ratings Disappointment

CNN ended its weekly primetime program "King Charles," featuring Charles Barkley and Gayle King. 

The show debuted six months ago as a creation of former CNN CEO Chris Licht, whom the network ousted before the show debuted. It was set to run through early spring, and then have its future assessed. 

The show never found its footing at CNN. 

According to the New York Post, "King Charles" was the lowest-rated primetime weeknight series debut for CNN in at least a decade. 

The show aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday nights, often trailing reruns of sitcoms that aired during the most unpleasant of hours.

Barkley and King averaged just 412,000 viewers last week. By comparison, Fox News' "Gutfeld" and MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" drew 2.2 million and 1.5 million, respectively, head-to-head.

All in, "King Charles" averaged 459,000 total viewers and 106,000 in the 25-54 demographic over the 14 episodes it aired – an average concerning even for the new standards at CNN.

So, where does the departure of Barkley and King leave CNN? We can't say for certain. 

Neither can CNN.

What CNN is under new CEO Mark Thompson is not clear. The channel is not as purposely hyper-partisan as it was under Jeff Zucker. 

Nor is it as focused on "straight news" as it was supposedly for the few months under Licht's guidance, as the recent promotion of Jim Acosta to the weekday lineup and network-wide defense of O.J. Simpson's acquittal further confirm:

Best we can tell, the current iteration of CNN is a dollar-store version of MSNBC – without the characters to generate perpetual virality and interest. The network is preachy, boring, and hardly informative. 

Hence, the current state of viewership.

"Anderson Cooper 360" was the top-rated show on CNN in 2023. Cooper averaged just 743,000, ranking 29th in cable news. Twenty-eight shows on Fox News (which, in disclosure, shares common ownership with OutKick) and MSNBC rated better than CNN's top program. 

The History Channel and obscure Western networks now edge CNN in primetime ratings. CNN's morning slate loses to ESPN, a sports network. 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Gayle King and Charles Barkley appear in a video during the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2023 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 17, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

Ultimately, Normie viewers used to reflexively turn to CNN during heavy, breaking news periods. That is not the case, anymore. 

CNN lagged well behind its cable in broadcast completion in percentage increases during the early stages of the war in Gaza last year and during primary election nights, specifically on Super Tuesday.

Under new leadership, CNN has yet to find its place in the election cycle. It best find its place soon. 

As for Charles Barkley and Gayle King — they will continue their respective roles on TNT and CBS. Their run at CNN is over.